CN117117533A

CN117117533A - Electric connector

Info

Publication number: CN117117533A
Application number: CN202210538876.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 曾建科
Original assignee: Amphenol Commercial Products Chengdu Co Ltd
Current assignee: Amphenol Commercial Products Chengdu Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-05-17
Filing date: 2022-05-17
Publication date: 2023-11-24

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an electrical connector. The electric connector comprises: an insulating housing having a mating face and a mounting face; a plurality of conductors disposed in the insulating housing, the plurality of conductors being arranged in rows along a longitudinal direction, each of the plurality of conductors extending from the mating face to beyond the mounting face, the longitudinal direction being parallel to the mating face and the mounting face; and a positioning assembly including a first positioning member that positions a first portion of the plurality of conductors and a second positioning member that positions a second portion of at least a portion of the plurality of conductors, the first portion and the second portion being spaced apart along an extension direction of the plurality of conductors. The first parts of all conductors can be positioned through the first positioning members, and the positions of all conductors can be effectively positioned under the action of the first positioning members without displacement caused by installation or transportation and the like. The conductors may be positioned at desired locations to maintain desired clearances with other components.

Description

Electric connector

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to electrical interconnect systems, and more particularly to improving signal integrity in electrical interconnect systems, particularly high speed electrical connectors.

Background

Electrical connectors are used in many electronic systems. In general, it is easier and more cost-effective to manufacture the system as individual electronic components, such as Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), which can be coupled together using electrical connectors. One known arrangement for coupling several printed circuit boards is to use one printed circuit board as a backplane through which other printed circuit boards (called "daughter boards" or "daughter cards") can be connected.

A number of electrical connectors may be mounted on a back plate in the form of a printed circuit board. The conductive traces in the back plate may be electrically connected to signal conductors in the electrical connectors so that signals may be carried between the electrical connectors. The daughter card may also have an electrical connector mounted thereto. The electrical connector mounted on the daughter card may be inserted into the electrical connector mounted on the backplane. In this way, signals may be transported between daughter cards through the backplane. The daughter card may be inserted into the backplane at a right angle. Thus, electrical connectors for these applications may include right angle bends and are often referred to as "right angle electrical connectors. Other known electrical connectors include, but are not limited to, orthogonal electrical connectors. The electrical connector may also be used in other configurations for interconnecting other types of devices, such as cables, to a printed circuit board.

Regardless of the exact application, the design of electrical connectors has been adapted to trends in the electronics industry. Electronic systems have generally become smaller, faster, and functionally more complex. Due to these variations, the number of circuits in a given area in an electronic system, as well as the frequency at which the circuits operate, has increased significantly in recent years. Current systems transfer more data between printed circuit boards and require electrical connectors that can process more data electrically at a faster rate than electrical connectors just a few years ago.

In high density, high speed electrical connectors, the electrical connectors may be in close proximity to each other such that electrical interference may exist between adjacent signal conductors. In order to reduce interference and also to provide desired electrical performance, shielding members are typically provided between or around adjacent signal conductors. The shield may prevent signals carried on one conductor from generating "cross-talk" on the other conductor. The shield may also affect the impedance of each conductor, which may further affect electrical performance.

Other techniques may be used to control the performance of the electrical connector. For example, transmitting signals differentially may reduce crosstalk. Differential signals are carried on a pair of conductive paths called a "differential pair". The voltage difference between the conductive paths represents the signal. In general, differential pairs are designed to have preferential coupling between pairs of conductive paths. For example, two conductive paths of a differential pair may be arranged to extend closer to each other than adjacent signal paths in the connector. Shielding is not required between pairs of conductive paths, but shielding may be used between differential pairs. The electrical connector may be designed for differential signals as well as single ended signals.

As the performance of electrical connectors continues to increase, new generation electrical connectors require less crosstalk, which requires sufficient machining precision to ensure that the individual components of the electrical connector are themselves precisely sized and that their groupings will also be able to avoid errors as much as possible. However, this is contrary to the idea of desiring to manufacture the electrical connector at a low cost and with a simple process. There is a need to design an electrical connector with a new structure to solve the above-mentioned problems.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to at least partially solve the problems in the prior art, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electrical connector is provided. The electric connector comprises: an insulating housing having a mating face and a mounting face; a plurality of conductors disposed in the insulating housing, the plurality of conductors being arranged in a row along a longitudinal direction, each of the plurality of conductors extending from the mating face to beyond the mounting face, the longitudinal direction being parallel to the mating face and the mounting face; and a positioning assembly including a first positioning member that positions a first portion of the plurality of conductors and a second positioning member that positions a second portion of at least a portion of the plurality of conductors, the first portion and the second portion being spaced apart along an extension direction of the plurality of conductors.

Illustratively, the electrical connector further includes an insulating spacer disposed within the insulating housing, the first and second locating members each disposed on the insulating spacer.

Illustratively, the insulating spacer is provided with a plurality of heat-fusible parts protruding and spaced apart in the longitudinal direction, the plurality of heat-fusible parts being heat-fused fixed as the first positioning member with the ends of the plurality of conductors.

Illustratively, one conductor is disposed between any adjacent two of the heat-fusible parts along the longitudinal direction.

Illustratively, each of the plurality of heat-fusible parts protrudes beyond the plurality of conductors before being heat-fused with the ends of the plurality of conductors, and the edges of the protruding ends are provided with chamfers.

Illustratively, an end of each of the plurality of heat-fusible parts adjacent to the mounting surface is provided with a notch.

Illustratively, the plurality of conductors includes a plurality of signal conductors and a plurality of ground conductors distributed between the plurality of signal conductors, the second locating member is made of lossy material, and the second locating member abuts the plurality of ground conductors.

Illustratively, the plurality of conductors are arranged in two rows along the longitudinal direction on both sides of the insulating spacer, the both sides of the insulating spacer being disposed opposite in a predetermined direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the second positioning member comprising: a positioning body accommodated within the insulating spacer; and a plurality of teeth extending from both sides of the insulating spacer to outside the insulating spacer, wherein the plurality of teeth abut against a middle portion of the at least a portion of the plurality of conductors.

Illustratively, the insulating spacer is provided with a mounting cavity penetrating in the predetermined direction, and the second positioning member is penetrated in the mounting cavity and is freely movable in the predetermined direction.

Illustratively, the mounting cavity includes a groove recessed inward in the predetermined direction from one of the two sides, and a plurality of through holes extending from a bottom of the groove to the other of the two sides in the predetermined direction, the plurality of teeth including a plurality of first teeth protruding from a notch of the groove to outside the insulating spacer and a plurality of second teeth protruding from the plurality of through holes to outside the insulating spacer in a one-to-one correspondence.

Illustratively, the length of the plurality of second teeth is greater than the length of the plurality of first teeth, and/or the length of the plurality of second teeth is greater than the length of the plurality of through holes.

The plurality of first teeth and/or the plurality of second teeth illustratively have a decreasing longitudinal dimension in a direction from the root to the tip.

Illustratively, the connection of each of the plurality of second teeth with the positioning body is provided with a reinforcing rib.

Illustratively, a gap is provided between the plurality of conductors and the insulating spacer, the gap being uniform along a length of the plurality of conductors.

Illustratively, the second locating member is configured for controlling the gap.

Illustratively, the gap is between 0.01mm and 0.5 mm.

Illustratively, the insulating spacer has a step disposed thereon, the first positioning member being disposed on the step, the ends of the plurality of conductors abutting on the step.

Illustratively, the insulating spacer is provided with snaps at both ends in the longitudinal direction, by which the insulating spacer is snapped to the insulating housing.

The positioning assembly further comprises a third positioning member for positioning a third portion of the plurality of conductors, the third positioning member and the first positioning member being located on opposite sides of the second positioning member, respectively.

Illustratively, the plurality of conductors are fixed to the third positioning member, which is fixed on insulating spacers located in the insulating housing, the insulating spacers being provided with oppositely disposed jaws at both ends in the longitudinal direction, respectively, and recesses are provided at both ends of the third positioning member in the longitudinal direction, respectively, the jaws being clamped on the recesses one by one.

Illustratively, the third positioning member includes a first clamping member and a second clamping member, a concave portion with a small opening and a large bottom is arranged on the first clamping member, a convex portion connected with the concave portion in an adapting manner is arranged on the second clamping member, and conductors are arranged on the first clamping member and the second clamping member in a penetrating manner.

Illustratively, the first positioning member applies a first positioning force to the first location, the second positioning member applies a second positioning force to the second location, the third positioning member applies a third positioning force to the third location, the first and third positioning forces include an internal pulling force toward the insulating housing, and the second positioning force includes an external pushing force toward the insulating housing.

Illustratively, the electrical connector is a right angle electrical connector.

Illustratively, the second locating member is located between the bent portions of the plurality of conductors and the mounting face and is closer to the bent portions than the mounting face.

The electrical connector further includes an L-shaped insulating spacer extending along the plurality of conductors, the insulating spacer being disposed within the insulating housing, a portion of the plurality of conductors being located inboard of the insulating spacer and another portion being located outboard of the insulating spacer, each of the plurality of conductors including a contact tail extending to the mating face, a mounting tail extending to the mounting face, a first straight edge portion connected between the mounting tail and the bent portion, and a second straight edge portion connected between the contact tail and the bent portion, the second locating member being disposed on the insulating spacer, the second locating member abutting against the first straight edge portion, and the second locating member extending beyond the first straight edge portion of the inboard conductor in a direction away from the mounting face.

Illustratively, the first positioning member applies a first positioning force to the first location, the second positioning member applies a second positioning force to the second location, one of the first positioning force and the second positioning force includes an external pushing force toward the insulating housing, and the other of the first positioning force and the second positioning force includes an internal pulling force toward the insulating housing.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided an electrical connector. The electric connector comprises: the insulating spacer is provided with a plurality of hot melt parts which protrude outwards and are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction on two opposite sides of the insulating spacer in the transverse direction; the conductors are respectively positioned at the two sides of the insulating spacer and are arranged into two rows along the longitudinal direction perpendicular to the transverse direction, one conductor is arranged between the hot melt parts of any two adjacent conductors along the longitudinal direction, the hot melt parts are fixed with the end parts of the conductors so that the hot melt parts serve as first positioning members, the insulating spacer is provided with second positioning members protruding out of the two transverse ends, and the second positioning members are clamped between at least one part of the conductors in the two rows of conductors along the transverse direction.

The electrical connector further includes an insulative housing having a mating face and a mounting face, the plurality of conductors disposed in the insulative housing, each of the plurality of conductors extending from the mating face to outside the mounting face, the longitudinal direction being parallel to the mating face and the mounting face, the insulative spacer disposed in the insulative housing.

Illustratively, the middle part of the insulating spacer is provided with a buckle at both ends in the longitudinal direction, and the insulating spacer is clamped to the insulating housing through the buckle.

Illustratively, the electrical connector is a right angle electrical connector.

The insulating spacer is L-shaped, and a part of the plurality of conductors is located inside the insulating spacer and another part is located outside the insulating spacer, each of the plurality of conductors including a contact tail portion extending to the mating face, a mounting tail portion extending to the mounting face, a first straight edge portion connected between the mounting tail portion and the bent portion, and a second straight edge portion connected between the contact tail portion and the bent portion, the second positioning member abutting on the first straight edge portion, and the second positioning member extending beyond the first straight edge portion of the inside conductor in a direction away from the mounting face.

Illustratively, the second locating member comprises: a positioning body accommodated within the insulating spacer; and a plurality of teeth extending from both sides of the insulating spacer to outside the insulating spacer, wherein the plurality of teeth abut against a middle portion of the at least a portion of the plurality of conductors.

Illustratively, the insulating spacer is provided with a mounting cavity extending therethrough in the transverse direction, and the second positioning member is disposed in the mounting cavity in a penetrating manner and is freely movable in the transverse direction.

Illustratively, the mounting cavity includes a groove recessed inward in the lateral direction from one of the two sides, and a plurality of through holes extending from a bottom of the groove to the other of the two sides in the lateral direction, the plurality of teeth including a plurality of first teeth protruding from a notch of the groove to outside the insulating spacer and a plurality of second teeth protruding from the plurality of through holes to outside the insulating spacer in a one-to-one correspondence.

Illustratively, the gap is between 0.01mm and 0.5 mm.

The electrical connector further includes a third positioning member that secures the plurality of conductors to the insulating spacer, the third positioning member and the hot melt member being located on either side of the second positioning member, respectively.

Illustratively, the plurality of conductors are fixed to the third positioning member, opposite clamping jaws are respectively arranged on two ends of the insulating spacer along the longitudinal direction, notches are respectively arranged on two ends of the third positioning member along the longitudinal direction, and the clamping jaws are clamped on the notches in a one-to-one correspondence manner.

In the electrical connector of the embodiment of the disclosure, the first parts of all conductors can be positioned through the first positioning member, and the positions of all conductors can be effectively positioned under the action of the first positioning member, so that displacement caused by installation or transportation and the like is avoided. In this way, the conductors can be positioned at desired locations so that desired clearances can be maintained with other components. Further, the second positioning member also positions the second portion of the conductor, that is, can be positioned at two portions for the portion of the conductor, so that its position holding ability is better. The type of this part of the conductors can be selected by a person skilled in the art as desired, or all conductors can be positioned simultaneously by the first positioning member and the second positioning member.

In the summary, a series of concepts in a simplified form are introduced, which will be further described in detail in the detailed description section. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Advantages and features of the disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

The following drawings of the present disclosure are included as part of the disclosure herein for purposes of understanding the same. Embodiments of the present disclosure and descriptions thereof are shown in the drawings to explain the principles of the disclosure. In the drawings of which there are shown,

fig. 1 is a rear perspective view of an electrical connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of another angle of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1;

fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector shown in fig. 1 taken perpendicular to the plane of the X-X direction;

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1 taken in a plane perpendicular to the Z-Z direction;

FIG. 4B is an enlarged view of a portion of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the internal structure of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1 with the insulative housing and conductors of the electrical connector removed;

Fig. 6 is a front perspective view of the internal structure shown in fig. 5;

fig. 7 is a perspective view of the internal structure shown in fig. 6 with the third positioning member removed;

fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the internal structure shown in fig. 7 taken in a plane perpendicular to the X-X direction;

fig. 9 is a front perspective view of an insulating spacer inside an electrical connector according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 10 is a perspective view of a second positioning member inside an electrical connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Wherein the above figures include the following reference numerals:

100. an insulating housing; 110. a butt joint surface; 120. a mounting surface; 200. a conductor; 200a, an outer conductor; 200b, conductors on the inner side; 201. a contact tail; 202. mounting a tail part; 203. a bending part; 204. a first straight side portion; 205. a second straight edge portion; 210. a signal conductor; 220. a ground conductor; 300. a first positioning member; 310. a hot melt section; 311. chamfering; 312. a notch; 400. a second positioning member; 410. a positioning main body; 420. a tooth portion; 421. a first tooth portion; 422. a second tooth portion; 430. reinforcing ribs; 500. an insulating spacer; 501. a vertical section; 502. a horizontal section; 510. a mounting cavity; 511. a groove; 512. a through hole; 520. a clamping jaw; 530. a buckle; 540. chamfering; 550. a step; 600. a third positioning member; 601. a notch; 610. a first clamping member; 611. a recessed portion; 620. a second clamping member; 621. a projection.

Detailed Description

In the following description, numerous details are provided to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the following description illustrates preferred embodiments of the present disclosure by way of example only and that the present disclosure may be practiced without one or more of these details. Furthermore, some technical features that are known in the art have not been described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the present disclosure.

For existing electrical connectors, multiple rows of conductors are typically provided and separated by insulating spacers in order to achieve a compact structure. It is desirable that there be no gap between the conductor and the insulating spacer, and that other electrical properties of the electrical connector are designed so that the conductor can be brought into close proximity to the insulating spacer.

The inventors have found that there is often a gap between the conductor and the insulating spacer in practical production and that this gap is difficult to control. The difficulty in controlling the gap may include two aspects, on the one hand, the difficulty in controlling the shape and size of the gap; on the other hand, the position of the gap is difficult to control because the conductors are typically elongated structures, as other parts of the conductors need to be substantially separated by insulating spacers except at both ends of the conductors (e.g. contact tails are to be in electrical contact with an adapter electrical connector or an electronic card inserted into the electrical connector and mounting tails are to be connected to a printed circuit board), and gaps may exist on any one or more small sections of said other parts. This uncertainty in the gap is highly undesirable. The inventors have recognized that this gap can lead to higher crosstalk of the electrical connector, thereby affecting signal transmission quality, resulting in poor Signal Integrity (SI). Moreover, the gap existing between the conductor and the insulating spacer may also change after prolonged use or during transportation of the electrical connector, even during use the conductor follows the system together due to vibrations of the system itself, which further results in a change of the gap. The difficulty in controlling the gap can also introduce significant uncertainty into the electrical connector. For example, gap inconsistencies may occur between different electrical connectors, which may introduce some uncertainty in the mass-produced electrical connectors, resulting in poor consistency between mass-produced electrical connectors.

The inventors have also recognized and appreciated the design of an electrical connector capable of preventing unwanted crosstalk that improves signal transmission quality and reduces crosstalk, and that is also capable of maintaining consistency between mass-produced electrical connectors. In some embodiments, an electrical connector may include a positioning assembly and a conductor. The positioning assembly can position the conductor so as to effectively control the position of the conductor. In this way, the gap between the conductor and the insulating spacer can be effectively controlled, thereby ensuring that the size of the gap meets the expected requirements.

Thus, the electrical connector provided by embodiments of the present disclosure may effectively reduce crosstalk, thereby improving signal integrity, as compared to existing electrical connectors. The electrical connector can support, for example, PCIE Gen5 (peripheral component interconnect standard 5 th generation) requirements for high speed performance. And, the electrical connector may have forward compatibility performance, for example, may support requirements of PCIE Gen 3 and PCIE Gen 4 for high-speed performance.

The inventors have recognized and appreciated that various techniques may be used, alone or in any suitable combination, to improve the signal integrity of a high-speed interconnect system. The techniques provided by the present disclosure may be particularly advantageous in right angle interconnect systems. The use of electrical connectors employing these techniques can be effective in improving the signal integrity provided in right angle interconnect systems.

The electrical connector of some embodiments is described in detail below with reference to the specific drawings.

For clarity and conciseness of description, the vertical direction Z-Z, the longitudinal direction X-X and the transverse direction Y-Y are defined. The vertical direction Z-Z, the longitudinal direction X-X and the transverse direction Y-Y may be perpendicular to each other. The vertical direction Z-Z generally refers to the height direction of the electrical connector. The longitudinal direction X-X generally refers to the length direction of the electrical connector. The lateral direction Y-Y generally refers to the width direction of the electrical connector.

As shown in fig. 1-3 and 4A-4B, an electrical connector may include an insulative housing 100, a positioning assembly, and a plurality of conductors 200. In the illustrated embodiment, the electrical connector may be a right angle electrical connector. In an embodiment not shown in the figures, the electrical connector may also be a vertical electrical connector or the like.

The insulating housing 100 may have a mating face 110 and a mounting face 120. The longitudinal direction X-X may be parallel to the mating face 110 and the mounting face 120. In embodiments where the electrical connector is a right angle electrical connector, the mating face 110 and the mounting face 120 may be perpendicular to each other. In other types of electrical connectors, such as vertical connectors, the mating face 110 and the mounting face 120 may be opposite one another. Regardless of the type of electrical connector, however, the roles of the mating face 110 and the mounting face 120 in the various electrical connectors are substantially identical. The insulating housing 100 may be molded from an insulating material such as plastic. The insulating housing 100 is typically a single piece.

A plurality of conductors 200 may be disposed in the insulating housing 100. The plurality of conductors 200 may be arranged in a row along the longitudinal direction X-X. The number of rows is not limited and includes, but is not limited to, one row, two or more rows, etc. In embodiments where the number of rows is multiple, the multiple rows of conductors 200 may be spaced apart in a predetermined direction. The predetermined direction is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction X-X. I.e. the predetermined direction is any direction in the plane of the vertical direction Z-Z and the transverse direction Y-Y configuration.

Adjacent conductors 200 within each row may be spaced apart to ensure electrical isolation between adjacent conductors 200 from each other. The conductor 200 may be made of a conductive material such as metal. Conductor 200 is generally an elongated, unitary piece. Each conductor 200 may include contact tails 201 and mounting tails 202 at both ends of the conductor 200 along its extension. The portion between the contact tail 201 and the mounting tail 202 may be referred to as the middle. The contact tails 201 may be used to electrically connect with electrical components such as mating conductors on an electronic card or a mating electrical connector. The mounting tail 202 may be electrically connected to the printed circuit board by soldering or the like in any suitable manner to effect an electrical connection with the printed circuit board. Thus, the electrical connector may electrically connect the electrical component to the printed circuit board via conductors 200, thereby enabling interconnection of the electrical circuitry on the electrical component with the printed circuitry on the circuit board. The contact tail 201 of the conductor 200 may extend to the mating face 110. Illustratively, the mating face 110 may form a mating interface of the electrical connector. The mating interface includes, but is not limited to, a slot. The slot may receive an electrical component such as an electronic card or an adapter electrical connector. The mounting tail 202 of the conductor 200 may extend beyond the mounting face 120. The mounting surface 120 may face a printed circuit board or the like.

The positioning assembly may be used to position the conductor 200 to thereby function as a fixation for the conductor 200. The positioning assembly includes but is not limited to a clamping jaw or a buckle. In one embodiment, the positioning assembly may include a first positioning member 300 and a second positioning member 400. The first positioning member 300 may position the first portion of the plurality of conductors 200 by one or more of clamping, bonding, welding, screwing, and the like. The first location may be one and located near or at the contact tail 201 or the mounting tail 202 of the conductor 200. The first location may be a plurality, e.g., two, that are near or positioned at the contact tail 201 and the mounting tail 202 of the conductor 200, respectively. The second positioning member 400 may position a second location (e.g., a middle portion of the conductor) on at least a portion of the plurality of conductors 200. The first and second locations may be spaced apart along the direction of extension of the conductor 200. The portion of the conductor 200 where the second positioning member 400 is positioned may be a specific type of conductor, such as a ground conductor or a signal conductor, or may be a high speed signal conductor of the signal conductors. When the conductors to which the second positioning member 400 is positioned are signal conductors, the second positioning member 400 is preferably made of an insulating material. When the conductor positioned by the second positioning member 400 is a ground conductor, the second positioning member 400 may be made of an insulating material, a conductive material, or a lossy material. When the second positioning member 400 is made of an insulating material, it can be positioned with both the signal conductor and the ground conductor. Alternatively, second positioning members of different materials may be provided for the signal conductors and the ground conductors, respectively, the different second positioning members being used to position the signal conductors and the ground conductors, respectively.

In the electrical connector of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first portions of all the conductors 200 may be positioned by the first positioning member 300, and the positions of all the conductors 200 may be effectively positioned by the first positioning member 300, so that displacement may not be caused by installation or transportation, etc. In this way, the conductor 200 may be located at a desired position so that a desired gap may be maintained with other components (e.g., the insulating spacer 500 to be mentioned later). Further, the second positioning member 400 also positions the second portion of the conductor 200, that is, can be positioned at two portions for the portion of the conductor, so that its position holding ability is better. The type of this portion of the conductors may be selected by those skilled in the art as desired, or all of the conductors 200 may be positioned by both the first positioning member 300 and the second positioning member 400.

By properly designing the structures of the first and second positioning members 300 and 400, the conductor 200 can be positioned at a desired position, and thus, the gap between the conductor 200 and the insulating spacer 500 can be precisely controlled. Therefore, the electric connector can effectively reduce crosstalk, so that the signal transmission quality can be improved, and the integrity of the transmission signal is better. And, the batch consistency of the electric connector is better.

Since a portion of the conductor 200 is positioned by the first positioning member 300 and the second positioning member 400 at the same time, the position of the portion of the conductor is relatively more stable. The first positioning member 300 applies a first positioning force to a first portion of the conductor 200 and the second positioning member 400 applies a second positioning force to a second portion of the conductor 200. Preferably, one of the first positioning force and the second positioning force includes a pushing force toward the outside of the insulating housing 100, and the other of the first positioning force and the second positioning force includes a pulling force toward the inside of the insulating housing. For example, when the located location is on or adjacent to an end of a conductor, the locating force applied to that portion may include a pulling force toward the interior of the insulating housing 100. When the located portion is located in the middle of the conductor, the locating force applied to the portion may include a pushing force toward the outside of the insulating housing 100. By applying positioning forces in at least two directions to the same conductor, the conductor can be provided with a further position-maintaining capability, in which case the position of the conductor can be accurately controlled by rationally designing the structure of the positioning member.

The contact tails 201 of the conductors 200 are to be in electrical contact with an electrical mating connector or an electronic card inserted into the electrical connector. The contact tails 201 are intended to apply a clamping force to the mating electrical connector or electronic card to form a reliable electrical contact, and thus it is desirable that the contact tails 201 be biased toward the interior of the insulative housing 100 or have an inward curvature. For a first location closer to the contact tail 201 than a second location, the first location at which the first positioning member 300 applies a pulling force towards the interior of the insulating housing 100 is more advantageous for making a reliable electrical contact between the contact tail 201 and the mating electrical connector or electronic card. The mounting tail 202 is to be connected to a printed circuit board, which also tends to be miniaturized, and thus the mounting space thereon is limited. For a first location closer to the mounting tail 202 than a second location, the first positioning member 300 applies a pulling force toward the interior of the insulating housing 100 at the first location more advantageously causes the mounting tail 202 to occupy less space, that is, not taking up too much space on the printed circuit board. The second positioning member 400 can stably hold the entire bar of conductors 200 at a desired position and has excellent position holding ability if an outward pushing force is applied to the second portion located in the middle of the conductors, and the position of the bar of conductors 200 can be directly and effectively adjusted by adjusting the size or configuration of the second positioning member 400.

Illustratively, the electrical connector may further include an insulating spacer 500. The first and second positioning members 300 and 400, respectively, may be disposed on the insulating spacer 500 by welding, bonding, plugging, or molding, etc. in any suitable manner. The insulating spacer 500 may be molded from an insulating material such as plastic using a molding process. The materials of the first and second positioning members 300 and 400 and the insulating spacer 500 may be the same or different. Since the first positioning member 300 and the second positioning member 400 are both disposed on the insulating spacer 500, the positional relationship of the first positioning member 300 and the second positioning member 400 is relatively fixed, so that the positioning effect on the conductor 200 can be made good, thereby ensuring good integrity of the transmission signal.

In other embodiments, the first and second positioning members 300 and 400 may be all disposed on the insulating housing 100. Alternatively, it is also possible that some of the first and second positioning members 300 and 400 are provided on the insulating spacer 500 and others are provided on the insulating housing 100.

Illustratively, the second locating member 400 may abut against a middle of at least a portion of the plurality of conductors 200 toward an outside of the insulating housing 100. In embodiments where the electrical connector is a right angle electrical connector, the conductors 200 may be bent generally in an L-shape. The second positioning member 400 may be located between the bent portions 203 of the plurality of conductors 200 and the mounting surface 120. The second positioning member 400 may be closer to the bent portion 203 than the mounting surface 120. Since the mounting tail 202 of the conductor 200 at the mounting face 120 typically needs to be soldered to a printed circuit board, the gap at this location is more difficult to control. By providing the second positioning member 400 thereto, the gap at this position can be controlled with emphasis, thereby ensuring a good integrity of the transmission signal.

Illustratively, the second locating member 400 may be configured to control the gap S between the plurality of conductors 200 and the insulating spacer 500. The gap S is preferably uniform along the length of the plurality of conductors 200. In this way, a better integrity of the transmitted signal can be ensured. For right angle electrical connectors, each conductor 200 is typically bent to form a bend 203, as shown in fig. 3. The bending portion 203 may be substantially rectangular. In a typical right angle electrical connector, the insulating spacer 500 is also generally L-shaped. Thus, the gap S may be substantially L-shaped along the length direction of the plurality of conductors 200. In particular, the gap S may include a first gap extending generally along the vertical direction Z-Z and a second gap extending generally along the lateral direction Y-Y. In the figure, the gap S is marked only between the inner conductor 200b and the insulating spacer 500, but the gap between the outer conductor 200a and the insulating spacer 500 is not marked, but in reality, the gap is also present between the outer conductor 200a and the insulating spacer 500. The outer conductors 200a refer to those conductors that are semi-surrounded by the insulating spacer 500, while the inner conductors 200b refer to those conductors that are semi-surrounded by the insulating spacer 500, with the outer conductors 200a being longer than the inner conductors 200 and located above and to the right of the inner conductors 200b in fig. 3. The insulating spacer 500 is then located between the outer conductor 200a and the inner conductor 200 b. The second positioning member 400 may protrude to both sides of the insulating spacer 500, respectively abutting against the outer conductor 200a and the inner conductor 200b, so that a gap between the outer conductor 200a and the insulating spacer 500 and a gap between the inner conductor 200b and the insulating spacer 500 may be controlled, respectively.

For a vertical electrical connector, the conductors on either side of the insulating spacer are typically substantially straight. Typically, the insulating spacers are substantially rectangular. The conductors may be symmetrically distributed on both sides of the insulating spacer, in which case the second positioning member may also be configured to control the gap between these conductors and the insulating spacer. For example, the second positioning member may protrude to both sides of the insulating spacer, abutting the conductors of both sides, respectively.

Illustratively, the gap S may be between 0.01mm and 0.5 mm. For example, the gap S may be 0.01mm, 0.25mm, 0.5mm, or the like. Too large a gap S may result in too high an impedance of the conductor 200. And, there is also a tendency that the size of the electrical connector is increased, which is contrary to miniaturization. The gap S is too small to cause the impedance of the conductor 200 to be too low. Also, resonance phenomenon may occur. Such resonance may interfere with the signal, resulting in the signal integrity of the electrical connector may not meet the requirements for crosstalk of PCIE CEM (Card Electromechanical) GEN 5.

With continued reference to fig. 3, each conductor 200 may also include a first straight edge portion 204 connected between the mounting tail portion 202 and the bend portion 203, and a second straight edge portion 205 connected between the contact tail portion 201 and the bend portion 203. The second locating member 400 may rest against the first straight edge portion 204 of the conductor 200. In particular, for the embodiment shown in fig. 3, the second positioning member 400 may rest on the first straight edge 204 of the outer conductor 200a and the first straight edge 204 of the inner conductor 200b in the lateral direction. The second positioning member 400 may extend beyond the first straight portion 204 of the inner conductor 200b in a direction away from the mounting surface 120. The second positioning member 400 may be located on one side of the L-shaped insulating spacer 500, for example, disposed on the vertical section 501 of the insulating spacer 500. The second locating member 400 may rest against the other side of the L-shaped insulating spacer 500, for example against the horizontal section 502 of the insulating spacer 500. Wherein the vertical segment 501 is perpendicular to the mounting surface 120 and the horizontal segment 502 is parallel to the mounting surface 120. In particular, the second locating member 400 may rest on a surface of the horizontal segment 502 facing the mounting surface 120. Since the second positioning member 400 protrudes outside the insulating spacer 500 toward the inner conductor 200b, the portion of the second positioning member 400 protruding outside the insulating spacer 500 can limit the horizontal section 502 of the insulating spacer 500, and thus the gap between the horizontal section 502 and the second straight edge portion 205 of the inner conductor 200b can also be adjusted to some extent.

The second positioning member 400 may be penetratingly disposed on the insulating spacer 500 in the lateral direction Y-Y. The overall length D of the second positioning member 400 may be greater than the length C of the horizontal segment 502, as shown in fig. 4B. In this way, when the second positioning member 400 is mounted in place, the second positioning member 400 may protrude from both sides in the lateral direction beyond the insulating spacer 500. The spacing between each row of conductors 200 and the insulating spacer 500 against which the second positioning member 400 abuts may be half the sum D-C of the spacing between the two rows of conductors 200 and the insulating spacer 500, respectively, i.e. equal to (D-C)/2. The arrangement of the spacing will be described later in connection with a preferred embodiment. Alternatively, the second positioning member 400 may be further provided so that the position on the insulating spacer 500 can be automatically adjusted in the lateral direction according to the force applied thereto by the outer conductor 200a and the inner conductor 200 b. Optionally, the position of the second positioning member 400 on the insulating spacer 500 is fixed, not adjustable. Thus, when the second positioning member 400 is fixed, the size of the gap between the outer conductor 200a and the inner conductor 200b and the insulating spacer 500 can be determined.

The insulating spacer 500 may be disposed within the insulating housing 100 by any suitable means, such as welding, bonding, or plugging. For example, as shown in fig. 5 to 8, both ends of the insulating spacer 500 in the longitudinal direction X-X may be provided with snaps 530. The insulating housing 100 may be provided with a slot adapted to the buckle 530. The insulating spacer 500 may be snapped into the snap-in groove of the insulating housing 100 by a snap-in 530. So set up, insulating spacer 500 is comparatively succinct with insulating housing 100's connection structure, low in manufacturing cost to be convenient for install and dismantle.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 5-9, and as best seen in fig. 8, insulating spacer 500 may be provided with a step 550. Step 550 may protrude outward from the side of insulating spacer 500. In the illustrated embodiment, steps 550 are provided on both sides of the insulating spacer 500. The two sides of the insulating spacer 500 face the two rows of conductors 200, respectively. The two sides may be oppositely disposed in the transverse direction Y-Y. The first positioning member 300 may be disposed on the step 550. The first positioning members 300 may be separated from each other, and the separated first positioning members 300 share the step 550. The ends of the plurality of conductors 200 (i.e., the mounting tails 202) may rest against the step 550.

Illustratively, the electrical connector may further include a third positioning member 600. The third positioning member 600 may position a third portion of the plurality of conductors 200. The third positioning member 600 and the first positioning member 300 may be located at both sides of the second positioning member 400, respectively. The third positioning member 600 may fix a third portion of the plurality of conductors 200 to the insulating spacer 500. The third location may be near or located at the contact tail 201 of the conductor 200. By providing the third positioning member 600, the conductor 200 can be further positioned, so that the integrity of the transmission signal can be further ensured.

As previously described, the first positioning member 300 applies a first positioning force to a first location and the second positioning member 400 applies a second positioning force to a second location. The third positioning member 600 may apply a third positioning force to a third location of the conductor 200. The first and third positioning forces may include an internal pulling force toward the insulating housing 100, and the second positioning force may include an external pushing force toward the insulating housing 100. The first and third positioning members 300 and 600 apply a pulling force to both sides of the second positioning member 400, respectively, and if the second positioning member 400 applies a pushing force toward the outside at the second portion located in the middle of the conductors 200, the entire strip of conductors 200 can be stably maintained at a desired position and have excellent position maintaining ability, and the position of the strip of conductors 200 can be directly and effectively adjusted by adjusting the size or configuration of the second positioning member 400.

Illustratively, the plurality of conductors 200 may be secured to the third positioning member 600 by any suitable means, such as plugging. The third positioning member 600 may be fixed to the insulating spacer 500. The insulating spacer 500 may be provided with oppositely disposed jaws 520 at both ends thereof in the longitudinal direction X-X, respectively. Notches 601 may be provided on both ends of the third positioning member 600 in the longitudinal direction X-X, respectively. The clamping jaws 520 can clamp onto the recesses 601 in a one-to-one correspondence. The electric connector has simple structure and low manufacturing cost.

Illustratively, the third locating member 600 may include a first clamp 610 and a second clamp 620. The first clamping member 610 may be provided with a recess 611. The recess 611 may have a shape with a small opening and a large bottom. The second clamping member 620 may be provided with a protrusion 621 thereon. The protrusions 621 may be adapted to connect with the recesses 611. The first clamping member 610 and the second clamping member 620 are each provided with a conductor 200. So configured, the third positioning member 600 facilitates installation and removal.

In other embodiments, the third positioning member 600 may also clamp the plurality of conductors 200 between the third positioning member 600 and the insulating spacer 500, or fix the plurality of conductors 200 to the insulating spacer 500 by any other suitable means.

Illustratively, the plurality of conductors 200 may include a plurality of signal conductors 210 and a plurality of ground conductors 220. The plurality of ground conductors 220 may be distributed among the plurality of signal conductors 210. The plurality of signal conductors 210 and the plurality of ground conductors 220 may be arranged in various desired patterns. In the embodiment shown in the figures, the signal conductors 210 may be present in pairs to form differential signal conductor pairs for transmitting differential signals. The ground conductors 220 may be located between any adjacent two pairs of signal conductors 210. Differential signal conductor pairs may be used to transmit high-speed signals to reduce cross-talk. Alternatively, the signal conductor 210 may also be used to transmit single ended signals.

Illustratively, the second locating member 400 may be made of lossy material. The second positioning member 400 may abut the plurality of ground conductors 220. Such materials may be considered lossy: the material will interact with the material to dissipate a sufficient portion of the electromagnetic energy that significantly affects the performance of the connector. The important effects are caused by attenuation in the frequency range of interest to the connector. In some configurations, the lossy material may suppress resonance within the ground structure of the connector, and the frequency range of interest may include the natural frequency of the resonant structure without the lossy material in place. In other configurations, the frequency range of interest may be all or part of the operating frequency range of the connector.

To test whether a material is lossy, the material may be tested in a frequency range that can be less than or different from the frequency range that is of interest to the connector in which the material is used. For example, the test frequency may range from 10GHz to 25GHz. Alternatively, the lossy material may be identified from measurements made at a single frequency, such as 15 GHz.

The losses may be caused by interactions of the electric field component of the electromagnetic energy with the material, in which case the material may be referred to as electrically lossy. Alternatively or additionally, the loss may be caused by an interaction of a magnetic field component of electromagnetic energy with a material, in which case the material may be referred to as magnetically lossy.

The electrically lossy material can be formed from lossy dielectric material and/or poorly conductive material. The electrically lossy material can be formed from materials conventionally considered dielectric materials, such as those having an electrical loss tangent (electric loss tangent) greater than about 0.01, greater than 0.05, or between 0.01 and 0.2 over the frequency range of interest. The "electrical loss tangent" is the ratio of the imaginary part to the real part of the complex dielectric constant of a material.

Electrically lossy materials can also be formed from materials that are generally considered conductors, but are relatively poor conductors in the frequency range of interest. These materials may be conductive in the frequency range of interest, but with some loss, such that the material is less conductive than the conductors of the electrical connector, but better than the insulator used in the connector. Such materials may comprise conductive particles or regions that are sufficiently dispersed such that they do not provide high conductivity, or that are otherwise prepared to have such properties: this property results in a relatively weak bulk conductivity compared to a good conductor such as copper in the frequency range of interest. For example, die cast metal or poorly conductive metal alloys may provide adequate loss in certain configurations.

Electrically lossy materials of this type typically have bulk conductivities of about 1 siemens/meter to about 100,000 siemens/meter, or about 1 siemens/meter to about 30,000 siemens/meter, or 1 siemens/meter to about 10,000 siemens/meter. In some embodiments, materials having bulk conductivities between about 1 siemens/meter and about 500 siemens/meter may be used. As a specific example, a material having a conductivity between about 50 siemens/meter and 300 siemens/meter may be used. However, it should be appreciated that the conductivity of the material may be selected empirically or through electrical simulation using known simulation tools to determine the conductivity that provides the appropriate Signal Integrity (SI) characteristics in the connector. For example, the SI characteristic measured or simulated may be low crosstalk combined with low signal path attenuation or insertion loss, or low insertion loss bias as a function of frequency.

It should also be appreciated that the lossy member need not have uniform properties throughout its volume. For example, the lossy member may have, for example, an insulating skin or a conductive core. A component may be identified as lossy if its properties are, on average, sufficient to attenuate the electromagnetic energy in the region of interaction with the electromagnetic energy.

In some embodiments, the lossy material is formed by adding a filler comprising particles to the binder. In such embodiments, the lossy member may be formed by molding or otherwise shaping the binder with filler into a desired form. The lossy material may be molded over and/or through openings in the conductors, which may be ground conductors or shields of the connector. Molding the lossy material over or through the openings in the conductor may ensure intimate contact between the lossy material and the conductor, which may reduce the likelihood that the conductor will support resonance at frequencies of interest. Such intimate contact may, but need not, result in ohmic contact between the lossy material and the conductor.

Alternatively or additionally, the lossy material may be molded over or injected into the insulating material, for example in a two shot molding operation, or vice versa. The lossy material may be positioned against or sufficiently close to the ground conductor to provide significant coupling with the ground conductor. Close contact does not require electrical coupling between the lossy material and the conductor, as sufficient electrical coupling, such as capacitive coupling, between the lossy member and the conductor can produce the desired result. For example, in some cases, a coupling of 100pF between the lossy member and the ground conductor may have a significant effect on suppressing resonance in the ground conductor. In other examples employing frequencies in the range of about 10GHz or greater, the reduction in electromagnetic energy in the conductor may be provided by a sufficient capacitive coupling between the lossy material and the conductor having a mutual capacitance of at least about 0.005pF, such as a mutual capacitance in the range of about 0.01pF to about 100pF, about 0.01pF to about 10pF, or about 0.01pF to about 1 pF. To determine whether the lossy material is coupled to the conductor, the coupling may be measured at a test frequency such as 15GHz or in a test range such as 10GHz to 25 GHz.

To form the electrically lossy material, the filler can be conductive particles. Examples of conductive particles that may be used as fillers to form electrically lossy materials include carbon or graphite formed as fibers, flakes, nanoparticles, or other types of particles. Various forms of fibers may be used, either in woven or nonwoven form, coated or uncoated. Nonwoven carbon fibers are one suitable material. Metals in the form of powders, flakes, fibers or other particles may also be used to provide suitable electrical loss characteristics. Alternatively, combinations of fillers may be used. For example, metal plated carbon particles may be used. Silver and nickel are suitable metal coatings for the fibers. The coated particles may be used alone or in combination with other fillers such as carbon flakes.

Preferably, the filler will be present in a volume percentage sufficient to allow formation of a conductive path from particle to particle. For example, when metal fibers are used, the fibers may be present at about 3% to 40% by volume. The amount of filler can affect the conductive properties of the material.

The binder or matrix may be any material that will solidify to position the filler, cure to position the filler, or can be otherwise used to position the filler. In some embodiments, the bonding agent may be a thermoplastic material conventionally used in the manufacture of electrical connectors to facilitate molding the electrically lossy material into a desired shape and into a desired location as part of the manufacture of the electrical connector. Examples of such materials include Liquid Crystal Polymers (LCP) and nylon. However, many alternative forms of binder materials may be used. Curable materials such as epoxy resins may be used as the binder. Alternatively, a material such as a thermosetting resin or an adhesive may be used.

While the binder materials described above may be used to form electrically lossy materials by forming a binder around the conductive particulate filler, other binders or other ways of forming lossy materials may be used. In some examples, the conductive particles may be impregnated into the formed matrix material or may be coated onto the formed matrix material, such as by applying a conductive coating to a plastic or metal part. As used herein, the term "binder" includes materials that encapsulate, impregnate, or otherwise act as a substrate to hold a filler.

For example, the magnetically lossy material may be formed from materials conventionally considered ferromagnetic materials, such as those having a magnetic loss tangent (magnetic loss tangent) greater than about 0.05 over a range of frequencies of interest. The "magnetic loss tangent" is the ratio of the imaginary part to the real part of the complex dielectric constant of a material. Materials with higher loss tangent values may also be used.

In some embodiments, the magnetically lossy material may be formed from a binder or matrix material filled with particles that provide magnetically lossy properties to the layer. The magnetically lossy particles can be in any convenient form, such as flakes or fibers. Ferrite is a common magnetically lossy material. Materials such as magnesium ferrite, nickel ferrite, lithium ferrite, yttrium garnet, or aluminum garnet may be used. In the frequency range of interest, ferrites generally have a magnetic loss tangent of greater than 0.1. Presently preferred ferrite materials have a loss tangent between about 0.1 and 1.0 in the frequency range of 1GHz to 3GHz, and more preferably have a magnetic loss tangent above 0.5 in this frequency range.

The actual magnetically lossy material or mixtures containing magnetically lossy material may also exhibit dielectric or conductive loss effects of useful magnitude over portions of the frequency range of interest. Similar to the manner in which the electrically lossy material can be formed as described above, suitable materials can be formed by adding a filler to the binder that produces magnetic losses.

The material may be both a lossy dielectric or a lossy conductor and a magnetically lossy material. Such materials may be formed, for example, by using partially conductive magnetically lossy fillers or by using a combination of magnetically lossy fillers and electrically lossy fillers.

The lossy portion can also be formed in a variety of ways. In some examples, the binder material and filler may be molded into a desired shape and then secured to the shape. In other examples, the binder material may be formed into a sheet or other shape from which lossy members having a desired shape may be cut. In some embodiments, the lossy portion may be formed by interleaving layers of lossy and conductive materials, such as metal foil. The layers may be firmly attached to each other, such as by using epoxy or other adhesive, or may be held together in any other suitable manner. The layers may have a desired shape before they can be secured to each other, or may be stamped or otherwise formed after they are held together. As a further alternative, the lossy portion may be formed by plating a plastic or other insulating material with a lossy coating, such as a diffusion metal coating.

Although the above-described structure can effectively control the size of the gap S between the conductor 200 and the side surface of the insulating spacer 500, it is difficult to precisely control the gap S in mass production. The second positioning member 400, which is made of lossy material, is effective to suppress resonance in the ground conductor 220, thus providing shielding between adjacent signal conductors or pairs of signal conductors, thereby preventing signals carried on one signal conductor 210 from producing crosstalk on the other signal conductor 210. Therefore, the signal interference can be reduced by suppressing resonance, so that the signal transmission speed and the signal integrity are effectively improved. The shielding may also affect the impedance of each conductor 200, which may further help to achieve desired electrical properties.

Illustratively, the plurality of conductors 200 may be arranged in two rows along the longitudinal direction X-X on both sides of the insulating spacer 500. Both sides of the insulating spacer 500 may be oppositely disposed in a predetermined direction. The predetermined direction may be, for example, a transverse direction Y-Y. The second positioning member 400 may protrude from both lateral ends of the insulating spacer 500 in the lateral direction Y-Y. The second positioning member 400 may be sandwiched between at least a portion of the conductors 200 in the two rows of conductors 200 in the lateral direction Y-Y.

The second positioning member 400 may include a positioning body 410 and a plurality of teeth 420. The positioning body 410 may be accommodated within the insulating spacer 500. A plurality of teeth 420 may protrude from both sides of the insulating spacer 500 to the outside of the insulating spacer 500. Wherein the plurality of teeth 420 may abut against a middle portion of at least a portion of the plurality of conductors 200. Thus, the gap between the two rows of conductors 200 may be the width of the second positioning member 400. In this way, the gap between the two rows of conductors 200 is better controlled.

Illustratively, the insulating spacer 500 may be provided with a mounting cavity 510 penetrating in a predetermined direction. The second positioning member 400 may be disposed through the mounting cavity 510. The second positioning member 400 may be freely movable in a predetermined direction. In this manner, the second positioning member 400 and the insulating spacer 500 can be easily installed and removed.

For example, as shown in fig. 9-10, the mounting cavity 510 may include a recess 511 and a plurality of through holes 512. The groove 511 may be recessed inward in a predetermined direction from one of both sides of the insulating spacer 500. The plurality of through holes 512 may extend from the bottom of the groove 511 to the other one of the two sides in a predetermined direction. The plurality of teeth 420 may include a plurality of first teeth 421 and a plurality of second teeth 422. The plurality of first teeth 421 may protrude from the mouth of the groove 511 beyond the insulating spacer 500. The plurality of second teeth 422 may protrude from the plurality of through holes 512 to the outside of the insulating spacer 500 in a one-to-one correspondence. The second positioning member 400 may be moved in a predetermined direction so as to be inserted into the notch of the groove 511 or taken out of the notch of the groove 511. The groove bottom of the groove 511 may serve as a limit in the process of penetrating the second positioning member 400 into the installation cavity 510, so that the second positioning member 400 may be positioned at a desired position in a predetermined direction. The plurality of through holes 512 may further serve as a stopper so that the second positioning member 400 may be positioned at a desired position in the longitudinal direction X-X. Accordingly, the mounting cavity 510 provides a good positioning effect on the second positioning member 400.

Illustratively, the length B of the plurality of second teeth 422 may be greater than the distance a of the root of the plurality of second teeth 422 to the mouth of the groove 511 in the predetermined direction; and the total length D of the second positioning member 400 may be greater than the length C of the mounting cavity 510. Thus, when the second positioning member 400 is mounted in place, the second positioning member 400 may protrude from both sides of the mounting cavity 510 in a predetermined direction beyond the insulating spacer 500. The spacing between the row of conductors 200 against which the second teeth 422 abut and the insulating spacer 500 may be B-ase:Sub>A. The sum of the spacing between the two rows of conductors 200 and the insulating spacers 500, respectively, may be D-C. Thus, the spacing B-A between each row of conductors 200 and the insulating spacer 500 may be (D-C)/2.

Illustratively, the length of the plurality of second teeth 422 may be greater than the length of the plurality of first teeth 421. In this way, the thickness of the bottom of the groove 511 can be relatively large, so that the mechanical strength of the installation cavity 510 can be ensured.

Illustratively, the length of the plurality of second teeth 422 may be greater than the length of the plurality of through holes 512. In this way, when the second positioning member 400 abuts against the bottom of the groove 511, the plurality of second teeth 422 may protrude from the plurality of through holes 512 to the outside of the insulating spacer 500 in a one-to-one correspondence.

Illustratively, the plurality of first teeth 421 may have a decreasing longitudinal dimension in a direction from the root to the tip. So arranged, the tooth root ensures a relatively high mechanical strength of the plurality of first tooth portions 421. The tooth tip may prevent the plurality of first tooth portions 421 from contacting other conductors 200.

Illustratively, the plurality of second teeth 422 may have a decreasing longitudinal dimension in a direction from the root to the tip. So arranged, the root of the tooth ensures that the mechanical strength of the plurality of second teeth 422 is relatively high. The tooth tips may prevent the plurality of second teeth 422 from contacting other conductors 200. Also, the plurality of second teeth 422 may also function as a guide, thereby facilitating the insertion of the plurality of through holes 512 in a one-to-one correspondence.

Illustratively, an edge of each of the plurality of through holes 512 facing the second tooth 422 may be provided with a chamfer 540. The chamfer 540 serves as a guide to facilitate the insertion of the plurality of second teeth 422 into the plurality of through holes 512 in a one-to-one correspondence.

Illustratively, the connection of each of the plurality of second teeth 422 with the positioning body 410 may be provided with a stiffener 430. The reinforcing rib 430 can reinforce the mechanical strength of the plurality of second teeth 422, and even if the plurality of second teeth 422 are long, the plurality of second teeth 422 are not easily broken.

In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of thermofusible parts 310 may be provided on the insulating spacer 500. The plurality of heat-fusible parts 310 may protrude from the insulating spacer 500. In an embodiment in which both sides of the insulating spacer 500 may be oppositely disposed in the transverse direction Y-Y, the heat fused portions 310 may protrude outward from both sides of the insulating spacer 500, respectively, which are opposite in the transverse direction Y-Y. The plurality of heat fused portions 310 may be disposed at intervals in the longitudinal direction X-X.

The plurality of heat fused portions 310 may serve as the first positioning member 300. The plurality of heat-fused portions 310 may be heat-fused to the ends of the plurality of conductors 200. The hot melt portion 310 may be made of a thermoplastic material such as polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), or Polycarbonate (PC). Thermoplastic materials are known to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail for the sake of brevity.

In actual production, after the conductor 200 is disposed at a desired position, the heat-melted portion 310 may be heated by a high-frequency welding machine or other devices, so that the heat-melted portion 310 is heat-melted, and thus the end of the conductor 200 may be wrapped. After the fuse portion 310 is cooled, the fuse portion 310 may fuse and fix the end of the conductor 200. By means of the arrangement, the fixing strength of the hot melting part 310 to the end part of the conductor 200 is high, the positioning effect to the conductor 200 is good, and accordingly the size of a gap can be controlled to meet expected requirements, and the integrity of a transmission signal is guaranteed to be good. In addition, the production process has the advantages of high efficiency, energy conservation, low production cost, high product quality and the like.

Illustratively, one conductor 200 may be disposed between any adjacent two of the heat stakes 310 along the longitudinal direction X-X. In this way, the end of the conductor 200 can be uniformly wrapped after the heat-melted portion 310 is melted, thereby preventing the individual conductor 200 from being unable to be fixed by the heat-melted portion 310. In addition, each of the plurality of heat-melted portions 310 may also play a role of limiting before being heat-melted and fixed with the end portions of the plurality of conductors 200, and a worker may place the conductors 200 in a gap between two adjacent heat-melted portions 310 in a one-to-one correspondence, so that the conductors 200 may be pre-positioned.

Illustratively, each of the plurality of fuse portions 310 may extend beyond the plurality of conductors 200 before being thermally fused to the ends of the plurality of conductors 200. The edges of the protruding ends of the plurality of heat fused portions 310 may be provided with chamfers 311. The chamfer 311 may act as a guide to facilitate placement of the conductor 200 in the gap between adjacent two of the hot melt portions 310.

Illustratively, an end of each of the plurality of heat-staked portions 310 proximate the mounting surface 120 may be provided with a notch 312. The notch 312 may allow more space at the mounting face 120 to facilitate soldering of the conductor 200 to a printed circuit board.

Thus, the present disclosure has been described in terms of several embodiments, but it will be appreciated that numerous variations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art in light of the teachings of the present disclosure, and are within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as claimed. The scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. The foregoing embodiments are provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the disclosure to the embodiments described.

In the description of the present disclosure, it should be understood that the azimuth or positional relationships indicated by the azimuth terms such as "front", "rear", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "transverse", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", etc., are generally based on the azimuth or positional relationships shown in the drawings, merely to facilitate description of the present disclosure and simplify the description, and these azimuth terms do not indicate and imply that the apparatus or elements referred to must have a specific azimuth or be configured and operated in a specific azimuth, and thus should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present disclosure; the orientation terms "inner" and "outer" refer to the inner and outer relative to the outline of the components themselves.

Various changes may be made to the structures illustrated and described herein. For example, the positioning assembly described above may be used with any suitable electrical connector, such as a backplane connector, a daughter card connector, a stacked connector (stacking connector), a mezzanine connector (mezzanine connector), an I/O connector, a chip socket, a Gen Z connector, and the like.

Moreover, while many inventive aspects are described above with reference to right angle electrical connectors, it should be understood that aspects of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. As such, any one of the inventive features, either alone or in combination with one or more other inventive features, may also be used with other types of electrical connectors, such as coplanar electrical connectors, and the like.

Spatially relative terms, such as "above … …," "above … …," "upper surface at … …," "above," and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one or more components or features' spatial positional relationships to other components or features as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass not only the orientation of the elements in the figures but also different orientations in use or operation. For example, if the element in the figures is turned over entirely, elements "over" or "on" other elements or features would then be included in cases where the element is "under" or "beneath" the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term "above … …" may include both orientations of "above … …" and "below … …". Moreover, these components or features may also be positioned at other different angles (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or other angles), and all such cases are intended to be encompassed herein.

It is noted that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exemplary embodiments according to the present application. As used herein, the singular is also intended to include the plural unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, and furthermore, it is to be understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising" when used in this specification are taken to specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, components, assemblies, and/or combinations thereof.

It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and the claims of the present application and the above figures are used for distinguishing between similar objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged where appropriate such that embodiments of the application described herein may be implemented in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.

Claims

1. An electrical connector, comprising:

an insulating housing having a mating face and a mounting face;

a plurality of conductors disposed in the insulating housing, the plurality of conductors being arranged in a row along a longitudinal direction, each of the plurality of conductors extending from the mating face to beyond the mounting face, the longitudinal direction being parallel to the mating face and the mounting face; and

A positioning assembly including a first positioning member that positions a first portion of the plurality of conductors and a second positioning member for positioning a second portion of at least a portion of the plurality of conductors, the first portion and the second portion being spaced apart along an extension direction of the plurality of conductors.

2. The electrical connector of claim 1, further comprising an insulating spacer disposed within the insulating housing, the first and second positioning members each disposed on the insulating spacer.

3. The electrical connector of claim 2, wherein the insulating spacer is provided with a plurality of heat-fused portions protruding and spaced apart in the longitudinal direction, the plurality of heat-fused portions being heat-fused fixed with ends of the plurality of conductors as the first positioning member.

4. An electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein one conductor is provided between any adjacent two of the heat-fusible parts in the longitudinal direction.

5. The electrical connector of claim 3, wherein each of the plurality of heat stakes extends beyond the plurality of conductors before being heat staked to the ends of the plurality of conductors, and wherein the edges of the extending ends are provided with a chamfer.

6. The electrical connector of claim 3, wherein each of the plurality of heat stakes is provided with a notch at an end thereof adjacent the mounting face.

7. The electrical connector of claim 2, wherein the plurality of conductors includes a plurality of signal conductors and a plurality of ground conductors, the plurality of ground conductors being distributed between the plurality of signal conductors, the second locating member being made of lossy material, the second locating member abutting the plurality of ground conductors.

8. The electrical connector of claim 2, wherein the plurality of conductors are arranged in two rows along the longitudinal direction on both sides of the insulating spacer, the both sides of the insulating spacer being disposed opposite in a predetermined direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the second positioning member comprising:

a positioning body accommodated within the insulating spacer; and

a plurality of teeth extending from both sides of the insulating spacer to outside the insulating spacer, wherein the plurality of teeth abut against a middle portion of the at least a portion of the plurality of conductors.

9. The electrical connector of claim 8, wherein the insulating spacer is provided with a mounting cavity extending therethrough in the predetermined direction, and wherein the second positioning member extends through the mounting cavity and is freely movable in the predetermined direction.

10. The electrical connector of claim 9, wherein the mounting cavity includes a groove recessed inward in the predetermined direction from one of the two sides and a plurality of through holes extending from a bottom of the groove to the other of the two sides in the predetermined direction, the plurality of teeth including a plurality of first teeth protruding from a notch of the groove to outside the insulating spacer and a plurality of second teeth protruding from the plurality of through holes to outside the insulating spacer in one-to-one correspondence.

11. The electrical connector of claim 10, wherein a length of the plurality of second teeth is greater than a length of the plurality of first teeth and/or a length of the plurality of second teeth is greater than a length of the plurality of through holes.

12. The electrical connector of claim 10, wherein the plurality of first teeth and/or the plurality of second teeth have a tapered longitudinal dimension in a direction from the root to the tip.

13. The electrical connector of claim 10, wherein a connection of each of the plurality of second teeth to the positioning body is provided with a stiffener.

14. The electrical connector of claim 2, wherein a gap is provided between the plurality of conductors and the insulating spacer, the gap being uniform along a length of the plurality of conductors.

15. The electrical connector of claim 14, wherein the second positioning member is configured for controlling the gap.

16. The electrical connector of claim 14, wherein the gap is between 0.01mm and 0.5 mm.

17. The electrical connector of claim 2, wherein the insulating spacer has a step disposed thereon, the first positioning member being disposed on the step, the ends of the plurality of conductors abutting the step.

18. The electrical connector of claim 2, wherein the insulating spacer is provided with snaps at both ends in the longitudinal direction, the insulating spacer being snapped to the insulating housing by the snaps.

19. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the positioning assembly further comprises a third positioning member that positions a third portion of the plurality of conductors, the third positioning member and the first positioning member being located on opposite sides of the second positioning member, respectively.

20. The electrical connector of claim 19, wherein the plurality of conductors are fixed to the third positioning member, the third positioning member being fixed to an insulating spacer located in the insulating housing, the insulating spacer being provided with oppositely disposed jaws on both ends in the longitudinal direction, respectively, the third positioning member being provided with recesses on both ends in the longitudinal direction, respectively, the jaws being clamped on the recesses in a one-to-one correspondence.

21. The electrical connector of claim 19, wherein the third positioning member comprises a first clamping member and a second clamping member, the first clamping member is provided with a concave portion with a small opening and a large bottom, the second clamping member is provided with a convex portion adapted to be connected with the concave portion, and the first clamping member and the second clamping member are both provided with conductors in a penetrating manner.

22. The electrical connector of claim 19, wherein the first positioning member applies a first positioning force to the first location, the second positioning member applies a second positioning force to the second location, the third positioning member applies a third positioning force to the third location, the first and third positioning forces comprise an internal pulling force toward the insulative housing, and the second positioning force comprises an external pushing force toward the insulative housing.

23. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the electrical connector is a right angle electrical connector.

24. The electrical connector of claim 23, wherein the second positioning member is located between the bent portions of the plurality of conductors and the mounting face and closer to the bent portions than the mounting face.

25. The electrical connector of claim 24, further comprising an L-shaped insulating spacer extending along the plurality of conductors, the insulating spacer disposed within the insulating housing, a portion of the plurality of conductors being located inboard of the insulating spacer and another portion being located outboard of the insulating spacer, each of the plurality of conductors including a contact tail extending to the mating face, a mounting tail extending to the mounting face, a first straight edge portion connected between the mounting tail and the bent portion, and a second straight edge portion connected between the contact tail and the bent portion, the second locating member being disposed on the insulating spacer, the second locating member abutting the first straight edge portion and the second locating member extending beyond the first straight edge portion of the inboard conductor in a direction away from the mounting face.

26. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the first positioning member applies a first positioning force to the first location, the second positioning member applies a second positioning force to the second location, one of the first positioning force and the second positioning force comprises an external pushing force toward the insulative housing, and the other of the first positioning force and the second positioning force comprises an internal pulling force toward the insulative housing.

27. An electrical connector, comprising:

the insulating spacer is provided with a plurality of hot melt parts which protrude outwards and are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction on two opposite sides of the insulating spacer in the transverse direction;

the conductors are respectively positioned at the two sides of the insulating spacer and are arranged into two rows along the longitudinal direction perpendicular to the transverse direction, one conductor is arranged between the hot melt parts of any two adjacent conductors along the longitudinal direction, the hot melt parts are fixed with the end parts of the conductors so that the hot melt parts serve as first positioning members, the insulating spacer is provided with second positioning members protruding out of the two transverse ends, and the second positioning members are clamped between at least one part of the conductors in the two rows of conductors along the transverse direction.

28. The electrical connector of claim 27, further comprising an insulative housing having a mating face and a mounting face, the plurality of conductors disposed in the insulative housing, each of the plurality of conductors extending from the mating face to beyond the mounting face, the longitudinal direction being parallel to the mating face and the mounting face, the insulative spacer disposed in the insulative housing.

29. The electrical connector of claim 28, wherein a middle portion of the insulating spacer is provided with snaps at both ends in the longitudinal direction, the insulating spacer being snapped to the insulating housing by the snaps.

30. The electrical connector of claim 28, wherein the electrical connector is a right angle electrical connector.

31. The electrical connector of claim 30, wherein the second positioning member is located between the bent portions of the plurality of conductors and the mounting face and closer to the bent portions than the mounting face.

32. The electrical connector of claim 31, wherein the insulating spacer is L-shaped, a portion of the plurality of conductors is located inside the insulating spacer and another portion is located outside the insulating spacer, each of the plurality of conductors includes a contact tail extending to the mating face, a mounting tail extending to the mounting face, a first straight edge portion connected between the mounting tail and the bent portion, and a second straight edge portion connected between the contact tail and the bent portion, the second positioning member abuts against the first straight edge portion, and the second positioning member extends beyond the first straight edge portion of the inner conductor in a direction away from the mounting face.

33. The electrical connector of claim 27, wherein the plurality of conductors includes a plurality of signal conductors and a plurality of ground conductors, the plurality of ground conductors being distributed between the plurality of signal conductors, the second locating member being made of lossy material, the second locating member abutting the plurality of ground conductors.

34. The electrical connector of claim 27, wherein the second positioning member comprises:

a positioning body accommodated within the insulating spacer; and

35. The electrical connector of claim 34, wherein the insulating spacer is provided with a mounting cavity extending therethrough in the lateral direction, and wherein the second positioning member extends through the mounting cavity and is freely movable in the lateral direction.

36. The electrical connector of claim 35, wherein the mounting cavity comprises a groove recessed inward in the lateral direction from one of the two sides and a plurality of through holes extending in the lateral direction from a bottom of the groove to the other of the two sides, the plurality of teeth comprising a plurality of first teeth extending from a notch of the groove out of the insulating spacer and a plurality of second teeth extending from the plurality of through holes out of the insulating spacer in a one-to-one correspondence.

37. The electrical connector of claim 36, wherein a length of the plurality of second teeth is greater than a length of the plurality of first teeth and/or a length of the plurality of second teeth is greater than a length of the plurality of through holes.

38. The electrical connector of claim 36, wherein the first plurality of teeth and/or the second plurality of teeth have a tapered longitudinal dimension in a direction from the root to the tip.

39. The electrical connector of claim 36, wherein a connection of each of the plurality of second teeth to the positioning body is provided with a stiffener.

40. The electrical connector of claim 27, wherein a gap is provided between the plurality of conductors and the insulating spacer, the gap being uniform along a length of the plurality of conductors.

41. The electrical connector of claim 40, wherein the second positioning member is configured to control the gap.

42. The electrical connector of claim 40, wherein the gap is between 0.01mm and 0.5 mm.

43. The electrical connector of claim 27, further comprising a third positioning member securing the plurality of conductors to the insulating spacer, the third positioning member and the hot melt member being located on opposite sides of the second positioning member, respectively.

44. The electrical connector of claim 43, wherein the plurality of conductors are secured to the third positioning member, opposing clamping jaws are provided on each of two ends of the insulating spacer in the longitudinal direction, and recesses are provided on each of two ends of the third positioning member in the longitudinal direction, the clamping jaws being clamped in one-to-one correspondence to the recesses.

45. The electrical connector of claim 43, wherein the third positioning member comprises a first clamping member and a second clamping member, the first clamping member is provided with a concave portion with a small opening and a large bottom, the second clamping member is provided with a convex portion adapted to be connected with the concave portion, and the first clamping member and the second clamping member are provided with conductors in a penetrating manner.